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Margaret Genevieve |
Margaret Genevieve (Minerd) Pocci was born on Sept. 16, 1904 near Uniontown, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of James L. and Catherine (Whalen) Minerd.
Margaret was a student at California University of Pennsylvania from 1923 to 1927. During those years, she lived subsequently in Republic and West Brownsville, Fayette County, and on Reppert Boulevard in Uniontown.
Circa July 1932, Margaret is known to have been employed in New York City with the Brooklyn Times newspaper. How she came to obtain this position is not yet known. She occasionally returned home for visits. After a two-week vacation in July 1932, reported the Uniontown Morning Herald, her brother Wilbert R. "Patsy" Minerd and his wife Kathryn drove Margaret from Republic to Bettis Field in McKeesport, near Pittsburgh, so she could fly by airplane back to New York "in order to be able to resume her duties with the Brooklyn Times."
On June 22, 1940, at the age of 35, Margaret married machinist Alex Louis Pocci (1906-1977), the son of Ferdnand and Theresa (Galti) Pocci of Brownsville, Fayette County. Tragedy was to follow this young family over the next few years. At the time of marriage, Margaret was employed as a "supervisor" and lived in Brownsville. The couple's address in 1941 was 27 Market Street, Brownsville.
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Industrial Brownsville, early 1900s |
Tragedy cut away two-thirds of the family starting on June 21, 1941. Margaret delivered their firstborn, two months early. The infant girl arrived stillborn. Unnamed, the remains were laid to rest at St. Peter's Cemetery, Brownsville.
The pregnancy was hard on Margaret, and in the fifth month she became anemic. She went to stay at the home of her brother James W. Minerd on Cadwallader Street in Republic. Just five days after the baby's death, she suffered a pulmonary embolism and passed away. She was just a few weeks before her 37th birthday. A newspaper said the cause of death had been a "complication of diseases." She was buried at Lafayette Memorial Park in the Garden of Blessing, with the baby's body moved to the same grave. Her obituary was carried in the Uniontown Morning Herald.
After her death, Alex married Angeline ( ? - ? ). The couple were the parents of Eugene Pocci and Marlene Pocci. The Poccis resided in Scott Township, near Pittsburgh. He is thought to have been friends with legendary sportscaster Myron Cope, a radio and television commentator for many years for the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. Cope later signed a legal document as part of Alex's estate.
Alex passed away at the age of 71 in May 1977. Following a funeral mass held at SS Simon and Jude's Church, the body was lowered into eternal sleep in Lafayette Memorial Park. The Pittsburgh Press published an obituary.
Copyright © 2008, 2010, 2013, 2022 Mark A. Miner